1773 Tea act/the boston tea party
Boston, December 1, 1773. Boston: Printed by Edes and Gill, 1773. Print.
Tea, a very common good in the British colonies in the 1760’s, was starting to be taxed in 1767 through the Townshend Revenue Acts [1]. In addition to this tax six years later, the 1773 Tea Act was also put into action by Parliament. The Tea Act put the East India Company in charge of the tea that was sent to the British colonies and what price it would be set at [2]. The tax put on tea and the Tea Act created a negative image and negative feelings from colonists towards the British. These reactions created historic events that lead to the revolution.
The first colonies that had a reaction to the duty on tea and the Tea Act were New York and Pennsylvania [3]. People, especially people who sold tea and smuggled if from British sellers, did not like that the East India Company would only sell to specified people at their respective ports [4]. Vendors of tea in both New York and Pennsylvania had serious uncertainty as to whether they would be able to keep their business going with the Act in place [5]. To counteract the potential decline and failure of their businesses, vendors began to tell people in the colonies that the East India Company would monopolize all foreign trade and that the colonies would be threatened to collapse [6]. Merchants in New York even sent out a sequence of announcements called The Alarm that would inform the people of what the East India Company was doing [7]. All these efforts were successful because people became outraged and in demand for it to stop. In Pennsylvania, seven hundred joined together to ensure the resignation of the consignees for their colony as a backlash [8]. Things only got worse in New York after they found out what happened with the Boston Tea Party and became more defiant [9]. These were the reactions from the people of the colonies with negative feelings towards the British and their policies that the tea tax from 1767 and the 1773 Tea Act created.
By 1774, Boston in Massachusetts had become the focal point of the retaliation to the restraints on tea [10]. What led up to that was around the end of 1773, the price of tea in Boston spiked [11]. Citizens of Boston were becoming very angry with their current governor, Governor Hutchinson, and were starting to talk of a violent resistance to save Boston [12]. On December 16th 1773, a group of men dressed as Indians dumped all the tea off one of the boats from the East India Company into the ocean [13]. In total, they dumped three hundred and forty-two chests of tea and were congratulated by many for their efforts [14]. Since they were disguised as Indians, British forces were not able to punish the perpetrators immediately like they had hoped, much to the colonist’s delight [15]. This event now known as the Boston Tea Party was the result of the Tea Act and created enough negative imagery of Britain along with many things associated with it to help lead towards the revolution.
The reaction of the tax on tea in 1767 and the 1773 Tea Act caused defiance in New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts and eventually caused the Boston Tea Party. The defiance was a result from the negative feelings given to them through the taxing and the Tea Act the British forced upon them. The taxing and the Tea Act were unfair causing the colonists to distrust the British and view them negatively thus eventually leading to the Revolutionary War.
1. Thomas, Peter David Garner. Tea Party to Independence :The Third Phase of the American Revolution, 1773-1776. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991. pg 14 Print.
2. "Tea Act of 1773." Tea Act of 1773 (2009): 1. Print.
3. Thomas, pg 14
4. Thomas, pg 14
5. Thomas, pg 14
6. Thomas, pg 14
7. Thomas, pg 15
8. Thomas, pg 15
9. Thomas, pg 16
10. Thomas, pg 14
11. Thomas, pg 17
12. Thomas, pg 19
13. Bell, Richard. "Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party and the Making of America." Journal of Social History 45.4 (2012): pg 1158. Print.
14. Thomas, pg 21
15. Thomas, pg 21
The first colonies that had a reaction to the duty on tea and the Tea Act were New York and Pennsylvania [3]. People, especially people who sold tea and smuggled if from British sellers, did not like that the East India Company would only sell to specified people at their respective ports [4]. Vendors of tea in both New York and Pennsylvania had serious uncertainty as to whether they would be able to keep their business going with the Act in place [5]. To counteract the potential decline and failure of their businesses, vendors began to tell people in the colonies that the East India Company would monopolize all foreign trade and that the colonies would be threatened to collapse [6]. Merchants in New York even sent out a sequence of announcements called The Alarm that would inform the people of what the East India Company was doing [7]. All these efforts were successful because people became outraged and in demand for it to stop. In Pennsylvania, seven hundred joined together to ensure the resignation of the consignees for their colony as a backlash [8]. Things only got worse in New York after they found out what happened with the Boston Tea Party and became more defiant [9]. These were the reactions from the people of the colonies with negative feelings towards the British and their policies that the tea tax from 1767 and the 1773 Tea Act created.
By 1774, Boston in Massachusetts had become the focal point of the retaliation to the restraints on tea [10]. What led up to that was around the end of 1773, the price of tea in Boston spiked [11]. Citizens of Boston were becoming very angry with their current governor, Governor Hutchinson, and were starting to talk of a violent resistance to save Boston [12]. On December 16th 1773, a group of men dressed as Indians dumped all the tea off one of the boats from the East India Company into the ocean [13]. In total, they dumped three hundred and forty-two chests of tea and were congratulated by many for their efforts [14]. Since they were disguised as Indians, British forces were not able to punish the perpetrators immediately like they had hoped, much to the colonist’s delight [15]. This event now known as the Boston Tea Party was the result of the Tea Act and created enough negative imagery of Britain along with many things associated with it to help lead towards the revolution.
The reaction of the tax on tea in 1767 and the 1773 Tea Act caused defiance in New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts and eventually caused the Boston Tea Party. The defiance was a result from the negative feelings given to them through the taxing and the Tea Act the British forced upon them. The taxing and the Tea Act were unfair causing the colonists to distrust the British and view them negatively thus eventually leading to the Revolutionary War.
1. Thomas, Peter David Garner. Tea Party to Independence :The Third Phase of the American Revolution, 1773-1776. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991. pg 14 Print.
2. "Tea Act of 1773." Tea Act of 1773 (2009): 1. Print.
3. Thomas, pg 14
4. Thomas, pg 14
5. Thomas, pg 14
6. Thomas, pg 14
7. Thomas, pg 15
8. Thomas, pg 15
9. Thomas, pg 16
10. Thomas, pg 14
11. Thomas, pg 17
12. Thomas, pg 19
13. Bell, Richard. "Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party and the Making of America." Journal of Social History 45.4 (2012): pg 1158. Print.
14. Thomas, pg 21
15. Thomas, pg 21